Hi all,

We are going to meet Joe's brother Jimmy, in Dublin tomorrow. He is flying in from England where he & his daughter arrived last week from Australia, for a grand-daughter's Graduation.

Nothing strange or statling about that EXCEPT Jimmy is 95 years old, looks 75 & is in fine fettle. We are all looking forward to seeing him again after about 20 years & hearing all his adventures.

He left Lisburn in the early 50's with his wife( who died 2 years ago) & daughter & has only been home once, about 20 years ago, so he will see great changes when he visits the old home town on Saturday for a few days.

He used to drive Thompson's taxi on the Square so has great early memories of the town. during the War, when the Americans were his best customers to Meghaberry & Knockmore camps & Long Kesh Airiport.

He could turn his hand to anything & did, in Australia, the only thing that beat him was mending clocks. We still have his Mother's 100year old chiming Westminster, which he took apart but could'nt put together again once. It is still chiming the hours, quarter's & half hours. Pity he won't see it as it was then. we didn't change it.

He would give you energy with his outlook, a man of many talents including Facebook Skype etc. Would that we had his get up & go attitude. My son is having a B-B=Q for all family in the South, before taking them on to Lisburn on Saturday, where they will meet up with family there & reminise about old times. No doubt celebratiions will be ongoing.

We leave for Dublin tomorrow morning so hopefully the sun will shine.

Pat

Hi Pat



Hope that Jimmy ,and yourselves ,enjoy the trip to Lisburn . He will see a lot of changes , even John Nicholson has been shifted ,to side of linen centre . I am sure I have seem Jimmy ,driving the Thompson taxi ,on the square . My old mate Billy (Beano) will have known the man himself .



Hope he gets a good old Lisburn welcome home ,and an enjoyable stay .



Regards!

Tommy

This posting encouraged me to re-read the Memoir and Essay = "Immigranrs`Son" from Richard Joseph O`Prey ISBN 0 -7596-9656-X written about his father who lived around Lisburn in Grand St. Lisnatrunk and attended Hilden and the Boys school before emigrating to USA and became a police officer in New York . Very interesting and moving story about those who emigrated to the USA from Ireland.
donald

Thanks Donald,

for recommending the book, must get it & read it, nothing like a true authentic memoir.

We are back home but the celebrations are ongoing in Lisburn for Jimmy, will hear more later. He was very interesting in his tales of his youth in the old town. A most positive thinking man.

We were thinking of you when the awful news of Munich shooting broke, hope you weren't near that Supermarket.

Pat

Pat
no, thank goodness no one in our family were involved, Julie was in Dresden, Max in Landshut and Denise and Kilian were at home as were herself and I. Only one who was in Munich centre was Chris when it happened but we rang him and he was at a party far away from the attack. The public transport was halted so I offered to drive in and pick him up but he said he would stay. ( maybe a bad girl offered him shelter!)
It was very moving to see how many of our friends and family rang or mailed to see if we were OK.
donald

Pat, Here is a rather belated welcome to your brother in law from Australia at 95 he deserves a medal for making that trip. What year did he go out to Australia,? I was there or rather in the Australian Navy from 1950 to 1956 so who knows we may have bumped into each other without knowing it???. So he was a taxi driver in Lisburn my uncle Hugh Dawe worked for Cambell Thompson for a brief time in the early days of the 2nd World War, I'm sure your brother in law would have known him also Thanny McWaters, Billy Wills, David Fulton to name a few though Thanny was the only one who worked for Thompsons Hope you all have a very happy reunion. Mauri

mauri
i lived with my granny in mckeown street and she came origionally from a farm way up colne mountain. her brother still worked the farm and he used to come to mckeown street on a tuesday for a feed if he was at the market buying or selling cows. she used to go to the farm every once and a while on a sunday to visit.
so, on saturday night she would send me up to the town square to look for thanny mcwaters to pick us up at 10 o'clock or thereabouts on sunday morning he'd been doing it for years so he knew where to go. he took us back to mckeown street about 5.
you mentioned thanny, so small world keep well tom

Yeah Tom, It sure is a small world when you think about it. I have probably asked you this before but living in McKeown Street you must have known Tommy Abbot the postman and his family,his daughter Alice who was older than me used to go with one of my neighbors sons,she was a lovely redhead. Where are you Queensland or Melbourne?? Mauri

Mauri, I wonder did Alice Abbott work in Lipton's grocery shop in town. I remember a lovely red-haired girl behind the counter and I think her name was Alice. Pat will know. She may have had a sister working there too, but I could be wrong on this bit.

Right on Ann, Yes Alice did work in Liptons I am not 100% sure but I think she married Sam Keary from Warren Gardens and yes she did have a sister. Remember I was only in Lisburn for a week or two at a time during the early 60s and that was only a couple of times a year, in fact I remember one time coming home and my Aunt who I stayed with was out so left my case next door and went out on the town, by the time I got home I was well under the weather never even undressed flopped out on the chesterfield woke up next morning grabbed my case and took a cab to the Airport and flew to London where I stayed a week In Lancaster Gate before shipping out again from Southampton. Those were the days????? Mauri

hello mauri
we're in gold coast at the moment but will go to melbourne in mid september. i'll be driving my car down this time, but a slow journey, no rush, staying on country roads and overnighting in small bush motels and evening dinners in pubs, or rsl, or bowling clubs or walking to a chinee with a bottle of red in hand, no driving needed. i'm looking forward to it. i really like the small towns, having lived on acres near one for 35 years. we have a car in melbourne but need two this time for planned things, so i'll drive down instead of flying.
the only abbots i can remember lived two doors from us. but there was only two sons. tommy, but only about 5 years older than me and bertie about one year older, he went to brownlee as i did.
so, thats all i can remember, was quite young then so, maybe others as well. someone else may remember other abbots. tom

Hi Tom, You sure seem to move around a lot,reminds me of my wife and myself when we had a place in Florida we used to spend our winters down there and then home for the summer and in between go on cruises or long trips around the USA and Canada, however we have not done any travelling overseas now for about five years our last trip was a river cruise down the Rhine in Germany though I am trying to talk Joy into a Hawaiian trip in the Fall she had a hip replacement which has slowed her down a lot so is not keen on travelling like she used to be. Have always regretted not taking her to Australia a few years ago when my relations there had a big get together in Adelaide. I have been back twice since leaving in 1956 once in 1975 or 6 with my late wife and once by myself after she died in 1985. Mauri

Mauri, did you leave your aunt a note to say you had gone away again?

No Ann, she was already up and about but I was getting the cold treatment from her and my uncle so with a rather frosty goodbye I was gone again for another six or seven months ????? Mauri

Mauri & all,



As I type Jimmy & daughter are boarding the plane at Heathrow for Australia after a hectic 3 weeks in England & Ireland. A man to learn from how to live life even in the hard times, he is a marvel.

Mauri, he knew all the taxi drivers you mention on the stand, a great bunch by all accounts, I think Jimmy would be the only survivor.

We will all have happy memories of the reunion, as I am sure he will too, an example to us all of never say die, age is no hindrance to travel if you are in fair health & think positive, as he does, what happens happens anyway, so with his philosophy ,in mind, I booked us for Canada in September.

Knees up Mother Burns, in this case, the operation can wait. Pat